Library peers dismayed at board's decision

Emporia State teaches not to restrict access

Posted: Saturday, February 21, 2009

By Ann Marie Bush

Kansas Library Association president Laura Loveless said Friday she is disappointed at the decision of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library board of trustees to restrict access to four sex-related books.

"This is absolutely not common," said Loveless, who also serves as branch manager for the Kansas City, Kan., Public Library. "Intellectual freedom is the cornerstone of our library business. What we do every single day in making choices is based on the right of people to say what they want to say and the right of people to read what they want to read."

Gwen Alexander, dean of Emporia State University's School of Library and Information Management, said it is the position of the American Library Association to not restrict access to any printed materials.

"That is what we teach," Alexander said. "But we do recognize community standards influence the local library boards. It is an ethical situation. For the most part, we don't want to restrict access, and it is left up to communities to decide."

Meanwhile, the possibility of the library board being sued emerged on two fronts Friday.

The library board voted 5-3 Thursday evening in favor of restricting minors' access to "Sex for Busy People," "The Lesbian Kama Sutra," "The Joy of Sex" and "The Joy of Gay Sex" because they deemed the material "harmful to minors."

"Unfortunately it opens the door for hundreds of thousands of books in libraries across the state to be restricted," she said. "For the board to turn around and find objections — and they were purchased according to board policy — is confusing as well. This is a very dangerous door to open."

Loveless said she doesn't find the books offensive and firmly believes in other people's rights to have access to that information.

The Kansas City, Kan., Public Library offers parents the choice of limiting what a child under the age of 12 can check out, Loveless said. But that doesn't mean a child is restricted from looking at any material at the library.

"It's a parent's right to be involved," Loveless said. "Our position is that it is the parents' role in helping children decide what they can read and access. We firmly believe it's the parents' role, not the library's role."

The Kansas City, Kan., Public Library has several sex books on it shelves, Loveless said, and they are checked out frequently. The library has two of the books that the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library will now restrict, she said.

"It is a slippery slope," she said. "How do you choose? Why choose just four books while there may be 20 on the shelf? In my 13 years here, we have never removed an item from our collection."

Topeka lawyer Pedro Irigonegaray and Doug Bonney, chief counsel and legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, said the library board's decision has many people concerned

"We've had complaints," Bonney said. "I am certainly recommending we file suit on these complaints and this policy. We're not going to go off half-cocked. We're going to see how they implement this policy. Once they implement it, or even sooner, we look to file a lawsuit if we have to. The library is a public entity. It is a governmental body. It is subject to the First Amendment, which provides for freedom of speech, freedom of press and freedom of religion. Part of that is the right to receive information without censorship by the government.

"This policy infringes on the rights of both adults and minors. This is not the kind of material that Congress was concerned about in the Internet pornography laws it passed. This material is not obscene. Are they going to take the anatomy books off the shelves?"

Irigonegaray said his phone had been ringing all day Friday in regard to the matter. He called the board's decision a "black eye" for Topeka.

"I would like to say the last choice should be a lawsuit," he said. "I say that because at a time of economic difficulties, such as the one we have right now, the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library should be using their resources for something worthwhile, not fighting a lawsuit they cannot possibly win. My hope is the board reconsiders this regressive, unpopular action and finds a way to come into compliance with the library's mission before legal action has to be taken.

"We need to let the board know that we are a better city than this. Why should we be the center of ridicule once again? It happened during the evolution debate when I represented mainstream science. People were wondering, 'What is wrong with Kansas?' "

Robert Banks, deputy director of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, said the staff has started talking about how to handle the restriction of the four books.

"They are all checked out right now," he said. "There are waiting lists on all of them. At this point in time, we just need to wait for them to be returned. It's going to require a thoughtful response. We'll just do what we need to do."